N.H. Senate race too close to call

Former state Attorney General Kelly Ayotte led the field for the Republican nomination for the open New Hampshire Senate seat, in a race that was still too close to call by early Wednesday morning.

Ayotte led attorney Ovide Lamontagne by less than one percentage point, 38.2 percent to 37.5 percent, with just over 85 percent of precincts reporting.

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Around 3 a.m., representatives from both campaigns said the race was too close to determine a winner and the candidates would wait until daylight Wednesday morning to hear the final results.

The GOP field also included two deep-pocketed businessmen, investor Bill Binnie and network-server company president Jim Bender, who each received 14 percent and 9 percent of the vote, respectively, despite spending their own money heavily on their bids.

The contest pitted the GOP establishment against grassroots conservatives and tea party activists. Ayotte, the early front-runner who was preferred by national Republicans, sought to fend off a late surge by Lamontagne, who ran with tea party support.

Public polls show both candidates in a competitive race against the Democratic nominee, Rep. Paul Hodes, for the seat vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Judd Gregg.

Yet an Ayotte victory would provide a silver lining in an otherwise grim night for establishment Republicans, who watched tea party-backed Christine O’Donnell defeat Rep. Mike Castle for the Delaware Senate GOP nomination earlier that evening. Many top Republicans believe O'Donnell is too flawed as a candidate to win the seat in November, which would likely put a GOP Senate takeover out of reach.

Ayotte was recruited by national Republicans to get into the race more than a year ago, before almost any other candidate had jumped into the contest. But she failed to clear the GOP field as she and national Republicans had hoped. Appointed to her former post as state attorney general, Ayotte had never run for office before – and her lack of a record as a candidate proved to be challenge for her campaign.

She was constantly forced to defend her conservative credentials and battled accusations about her conduct as attorney general. She was also put on the defensive by the narrative that national Republicans had anointed her as their nominee — an unpopular storyline among grassroots conservatives.

Ayotte battled Binnie in an all-out war on the airwaves – even as polls showed her leading the field through the final weeks of the race.

While Lamontagne had the backing of South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint, who made a habit of endorsing insurgent Republican candidates for Senate this year, Ayotte had the support of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Palin endorsed Ayotte in July, calling her a “one tough ‘Granite grizzly’” and the “true conservative” in the race.

Lamontagne’s solid performance Tuesday came despite the fact that he had less money than any of his GOP opponents. He reported just over $100,000 in the bank as of Aug. 25 – a fraction of the $825,000 that Ayotte reported having on hand at the same time.

And in a race featuring several self-funding millionaires, Lamontagne performed exceedingly well. Binnie spent more than $5 million of his own funds for his bid, while Bender spent about $1.5 million out of his own pocket for his campaign.

Binnie’s early and prolific spending might have been his downfall, said former New Hampshire Republican Party Chairman Fergus Cullen. Binnie went up on the air in January and steadily kept up a heavy television presence through the primary, but drew fire from outside conservative groups.